


safeword

by symmetrophobic



Series: spy!au [2]
Category: GOT7
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-06-09 09:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6900697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/symmetrophobic/pseuds/symmetrophobic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>espionage missions should be a breeze, especially for a whole team, right? even if some people have to play dress up and others have to do a temporary career switch to reluctant voyeur- oh, also, they're at a brothel. yeah. jaebum really hates his job sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 001.

Somewhere, along a carpeted corridor with grand glass fixtures and cheap replicas of artistic naked women paintings, Jaebum’s facing the door in a nicely furnished room, stewing quietly in his compact bubble of stress.

He’s listening to Youngjae deliver instructions to Bambam over the radio, arms folded across his chest. It wasn’t easy infiltrating even this quieter part of the brothel to set up a saferoom of sorts, and smuggling Bambam in as part of a shipment had been the only way to access the higher levels, without arousing any suspicion.

This mission’s been given every fibre of his concentration, as per every assignment Unit Seven’s received, but even now, though, the level of compromise he’s being forced to expose his team members to is grating on him uncomfortably.

Some members, though, he thinks would be able to stand a _little more_ compromise, kind of like-…

“ _Dicks!”_

Jaebum pinches the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb, massaging the spot wearily at the explosion into his earpiece.

“ _We’ve reached the location, standing by for Retrieval, Jaebum,”_ Mark sounds slightly queasy, no prizes for guessing why.

“ _They’re_ _everywhere!”_

No sane standard human male should be sounding so elated about _dicks everywhere_ , but then again Jaebum’s long given up on attempting to classify Jackson anywhere near sane.

“Jackson, for the hundredth time-…”

“ _Hyung, they’re on the_ ceiling!” Jackson sounds delighted. “ _And the walls! It’s a room_ full _of dicks_!”

“ _Jackson_ -…” Mark’s hesitant baritone over their comlink settles some form of relief, at least, into Jaebum’s chest. “ _God, Jackson, don’t_ touch that _, you don’t know where it’s_ been-…”

“ _Hey if you press this switch, they_ move _!_ ”

“ _Jackson-…_ ”

“Be professional,” Jaebum snaps over their radio. “You’re supposed to be standing by for Retrieval, so stop screwing around and prepare!”

“ _Hey, get it, he said_ screwing around _, and_ prepare _-…_ ”

“ _Jackson._ ”

“ _Fine, fine_ ,” the younger man finally grumbles, and Jaebum sighs impatiently.

He _knows_ why JYP had assigned this team to this mission, _knows_ that it had been in order of omission, with their seniors currently on a much more dangerous assignment and their sister team still in the process of forming the ranks, but this doesn’t make anything much better. It isn’t an escort, not something they can sleep on, and not a rescue mission, so it’s not like they’ll be feeling particularly heroic about it either. It’s your clichéd “this firm is stealing my profits and I want you to get rid of it so I’ll be richer” kind of thing. And while Jaebum’s secretly glad to get rid of a brothel, especially one like this, the fact that they’re doing this for the monopolistic power of another one just robs him of every bit of satisfaction he would’ve initially gotten.

So here they are now, at the classiest BDSM brothel Jaebum has ever had the misfortune to set foot in in his life, trying to find something that’ll bust this place for good. It apparently used to be some uppity research hospital thing of some sort until it went bust due to rumours and bad publicity, and was hastily sold for a cheap price to some shady businessmen after that, leading to the birth of this shithole. They have an entire level for nurse-related roleplay, according to Youngjae’s ill-gotten blueprints (and much to Jackson’s interest).

“Hey.”

Jaebum turns around, frowning at a stray pair of handcuffs hanging on the dresser top and trying to shake the nagging feeling of fear that weighs heavy in his gut, and abruptly chokes.

Each member of his team, he’s learned, has developed different ways of driving his blood pressure dangerously high. Jackson does this simply by talking. Bambam attempts to touch up his mission gear with leopard print, Yugyeom hijacks their dropship PA system to blast Chris Brown music, you get the idea.

Somehow, though, no one seems to do it as well as Unit 7’s very own deputy leader.

Jinyoung doesn’t seem to notice, straightening the creases of the sailor-fuku critically in the mirror.

“How do I look?”

“Uh-…” Jaebum scrambles for a word that sounds at least vaguely professional. Miraculously, he manages. “Convincing.”

The other man looks unconcerned, flattening the skirt against his ~~spectacular~~ behind, before padding over to the duffel bag on the floor, and Jaebum very pointedly looks away when he bends over to tug a bundle of cloth out.

“Fishnet or flesh coloured,” Jinyoung says critically as he straightens, untangling the bundle.

Jaebum eyes the fabric warily, staying clear on the other side of the room. “Are those stockings.”

Jinyoung finally smirks at him through the mirror as he sits comfortably on the bed, the springs bouncing and sheets bunching where his skin comes into contact with the mattress, starting to work one of the stockings up his right leg. “You know we aren’t always going to get a mission where I get to dress up.”

Jaebum makes a strangled noise, turning away to pretend to busy himself with whatever’s closest to him, which happens to be the handcuffs from earlier. He takes a step away, and picks up a map instead.

“It’s not _dressing up_ ,” he snaps. “If the mission necessitates it.”

It hadn’t been Jaebum’s _idea_ to have him dress up like this, but Youngjae had noted after a thorough pillage of the place’s security system, along with help from Mark, who’d posed as a customer, that there were some parts of the brothel they’d need to pass that were off limits to everyone except _staff._ And then it’d been either Bambam or Jinyoung, and the team’s mom would literally rather dress up like a prostitute than let their baby do it in front of all these strange men, so Jaebum supposes he should be grateful, except he isn’t. Not really.

“But it’s convincing enough that you’d want to sleep with me?”

Jaebum is fortunately (or unfortunately) saved from having to respond to that by Mark’s voice on the radio.

“ _Friendly reminder that the rest of us are still here_.”

Jinyoung swears under his breath, while a disappointed whine resounds loudly.

“ _Aw,_ hyung _! This was our one chance_ -…”

“Sorry _Bambam, I kind of want my ears preserved too, thanks._ ”

“ _Damn, that was like, listening to a really cute romantic comedy,”_ Jackson sounds awed. “ _That or this is reminding me of a movie Mark and I watched last week._ ”

“ _You two watch softcore porn together?_ ” Yugyeom’s voice has just the right amount of dry judgement, and Jaebum snaps out of it at that.

“Yugyeom, can it,” he orders, bruised. “And speaking of you, Bambam,” Jaebum tries to regain control of the conversation, turning away from the biggest distraction in the room, now pulling on knee-high leather boots, cheeks a little flushed, like the way he’s dressed isn’t begging for him to be hauled down to his knees or on his back on the nearest horizontal surface. “Have you picked up on anything yet?”

“ _No_ ,” Bambam says ruefully, obviously still smarting. “ _Had to hide for a while so I got held up. Stop talking to me, hyung.”_

Jaebum takes a deep breath. “Yugyeom? Everything good out there?”

“ _Yep, hyung, it’s completely clear out here, other than the usual perverts here for their weekly dose of immorality._ ”

“That’s good,” Jaebum runs the plan through his mind once more. “Youngjae? Have you shut down power yet?”

“ _Yeah, it was pretty tough for simple brothel security,_ ” Youngjae sounds mighty uncomfortable. “ _The main security’s cameras show the rooms, hallways and the lobby, and the service corridor where Bambam is. Shutting down power now. Leaving the emergency lights on for you guys.”_

“ _Heh, see anything good on the cams?_ ”

“Jackson, shut up,” Jaebum checks his watch, feeling a little sorry that Youngjae’s being subjected to this (at least he doesn’t have to go undercover too, though, the leader heaves a mental sigh of relief. Then Jaebum might _really_ be dead). “Youngjae, keep an eye on the corridors. Bambam, move in, stick to the service hallways. Retrieval team, on standby.”

“ _Hyung, don’t you-…_ ” Youngjae hesitates for a bit. “ _Don’t you think-…_ ”

“Yes, you just gotta bear with the naked people for a while, Jae,” Jaebum says distractedly- someone’s clomping past their room, making odd noises that he doesn’t want to think too much about.

“ _No, hyung, this isn’t about the camera feed_ ,” Youngjae huffs. “ _I’m just saying, don’t you think it’s weird that they hired the whole team on an espionage mission? It’s been mostly smooth sailing so far, I don’t get it._ ”

“ _Rookie mistake?_ ” Yugyeom suggests, after a moment. “ _Either way, it’s easy money for us. I’d rather not look a gift horse in the mouth, you know?”_

Jaebum hesitates. That’s true- he happened to know that the client’s frequented SM before, so they’re no stranger to the _services_ that the three companies offer. Why would they have hired the whole team for an espionage mission?

Unless…they thought the whole team would be necessary for whatever was in store here?

He’s lost in thought on that until Bambam’s voice comes over the radio, slightly overconfident in the way he speaks when he’s trying not to show how nervous he is. “ _Hyung, I’m at the service elevator, in position.”_

Jaebum blinks, focusing back on the situation at hand. He glances back at Jinyoung, fully dressed now, who nods. _You’re on._

“Okay, let’s go through the plan again,” he says, as Jinyoung disappears out the door. “Youngjae’s deactivated the power, and when Bambam gets back out in the open and starts running and messing shit up, the guards will be busy trying to do damage control. That’s Jinyoung’s cue to go upstairs, where he’s going to let me in, we bug the place, Youngjae shuts it down.” he sweeps his eyes across the room as he leaves, fifty counts after Jinyoung’s left, eyes lingering over the retreating figure of the other man momentarily, before he turns and walks in the opposite direction. “Yugyeom, keep on lookout and get our escape route ready.”

Jaebum steels himself for a second, tugging on the blazer he’d been holding and taking a pleasant breath, before walking straight into the grand foyer of the place, carelessly taking a flute of complimentary champagne from a passing waiter’s tray.

He’s trying to ignore the way the hooker in (only) the leather straps and bright pink afro is looking at him from some distance away, pretending to take a sip from his glass. Jaebum has never been one for over-the-top displays of firepower and violence, but at that moment all he can think about, sourly, is how very much he’d like to blow this place to smithereens, excessive damage report paperwork be damned.

He seems to get his wish granted when something _explodes_ above them- the chandelier trembles, tremors running deep through the ground, and a hush falls over the crowd, everyone’s heads craned curiously towards the double doors at the head of the stairs.

“Bam,” Jaebum mutters, frowning as he heads away. “Tone down on the distraction a bit, you don’t want the bouncers down here going up to get you.”

“ _Uh…hyung? That wasn’t me._ ”

Jaebum stares in the direction of the explosion, a frown creasing his forehead- a man in a top hat and suit is on the ground trying to do damage control, reassure everyone that things are fine with high unconvincing laughter.

Then something, or rather the lack thereof, suddenly occurs to Jaebum. “Retrieval team,” he says in an urgent whisper. “Retrieval team come in.”

Static silence holds for a good two seconds or so.

“Mark?” Jaebum’s voice goes a little hoarse. “Jackson? Respond, _now_.”

Then a muffled yell resounds through the cavernous place, and the grand double doors burst open, a body tumbling down the carpeted stairs, barely managing to regain their balance before they smash into the bannister.

Jaebum’s stomach feels like it’s turned to ice.

Mark stands unsteadily from the foot of the stops, breathing heavily through his black half mask, blood soaking into the fabric on his shoulder, eyes locked onto the _thing_ still standing in the doorway, whatever the _hell_ that is.

The fur-human _thing_ seems to fill up the entire door frame with its build, thick yellow fluid dripping from various _orifices_ , one arm and three legs gnarled and twitching, odd squeaking noises bouncing off the ceiling and walls like marbles.

It’s like something out of one of Yugyeom and Bambam’s latest sci-fi horror Xbox games. This is partly ridiculous and partly confusing and mostly terrifying, because whatever it is, it just managed to throw Mark, _Mark_ , out a door and down a flight of stairs.

It’s clear now that this isn’t just any case of espionage, it’s something a lot uglier and a lot bigger that could pretty much wreck the entire human population, for crying out loud. And they  _all just got severely underpaid for this job_ , Jaebum is so demanding compensation from their client after this is over.

“Youngjae,” Jaebum doesn’t have to lower his voice anymore, not with the way the crowd’s started buzzing with anticipation and fear, louder than his own thoughts. “Youngjae are you seeing this?”

Youngjae doesn’t reply for a moment, probably a little overloaded from everything he’s seen tonight. “ _Transmitting live images to everyone now. What the heck is that even-…_ shit _, it must’ve gotten loose when I cut the power to upstairs.”_

A moment of silence passes as the _thing_ starts prowling down the stairs- moving surprisingly quietly for something that big.

“ _Hyung, it’s getting closer to Mark, should we-…should we help?”_ Youngjae sounds worried. 

“ _Youngjae hyung,_ ” It’s Yugyeom, now. “ _The hospital this was built from- what were the rumours circulating it again?_ ”

Jaebum’s mouth goes dry as Mark stumbles down a step, torn between blowing cover to go and help, and letting Mark handle it himself. Youngjae’s voice has an unmistakeable hint of fear when he replies.

“ _Hybrid research_.”

Just then, the tension is broken as a distinctive (but muffled) yell rings out from behind, and the thing (hybrid??) turns, only to get bowled over as Jackson, bleeding freely from a gash on his arm and donning a mask as well, fires a clean spread of bullets across what Jaebum supposes might be its face, before sinking a shoulder and elbow into it and sending it tumbling down the stairs.

Mark leaps into action at that too, doing an evasive manoeuvre along the bannister that Jaebum almost wants to congratulate him for. He catches Jackson at the last moment, swinging them both to safety higher up on the stairs.

The crowd parts quickly as the hybrid tumbles into a sticky yellow mess on the floor, still squeaking, and someone starts cheering, thinking this must be the establishment’s idea of special entertainment.

“ _Well,_ ” Jaebum can hear Bambam’s shrug through the radio. “ _We wanted compromising evidence. Guess we got it.”_

Another door higher up is blasted off its hinges- another rabbit _thing_ stumbles through, and _shit_ , there are more of them coming, and _no one seems to have any basic sense of self preservation._

The leader groans, tugging off his blazer, before muttering under his breath. “I hate this stupid job.”

“ _Hyung?_ ”

“Change of plans,” Jaebum snaps into the mic, pulling on a black half mask of his own. “Yugyeom, keep the evac route clear, and make sure none of those things get out of the building, understand? Jinyoung, Bambam, Jae, focus on finding out where these things came from, and sweep for evidence to bust this place later. No one get bitten or consume anything suspiciously organic or yellow, because I am _so not_ filing a med report if someone turns into a rabbit.”

“ _I never thought the day would come when I would hear Jaebum ordering me not to turn into a rabbit,_ ” Bambam mutters.

Jaebum signals sharply, catching Mark’s eye just as Jackson almost gets mauled by some bird thing blundering down the stairs, and the crowd starts shrieking excitedly as the pair leap down, joining Jaebum on the ground- bulky guards are starting to pour out of the upper levels, now, holding dart guns and nets, and the situation is so bizarre Jaebum has tell himself this isn’t a dream several times.

“ _Plan_ ,” Jackson wheezes. “Our radios got busted by Furface’s goo- you’d better have something good, hyung.”

“These things are coming from upstairs. We let the guards handle things here, fight our way up to the rendezvous,” Jaebum says grimly. “The others gather evidence, then Yugyeom busts us out of here.”

“No offence,” Mark says drily, eyes on the guards, clearly divided between darting every hybrid in sight and trying to assess the danger posed by the three newcomers in the foyer. “But that’s the shittiest plan you’ve come up with in a while. And Yokohama happened just last year.”

“This isn’t the time,” Jaebum hisses, firing two shots and getting a charging bird thing right between the eyes, or where its eyes are supposed to be, anyway. “To bring up Yokohama.”

“ _Yeah,”_ Yugyeom sounds vaguely annoyed. “ _Considering I’m not jumping off this building to take out anything that gets out. Can you guys do some damage control? There are a couple of hamster things out here wrecking someone’s Lamborghini, and I’m running out of darts.”_

“Jinyoung. How long will you guys need?”

“ _Jae’s located the labs, he’s locked it on our maps,”_ Jinyoung sounds a little out of breath. “ _Twenty minutes, tops. Hope you remember I’m not in the best attire to climb stairs.”_

Jaebum pulls out a second gun with a little more force than necessary, nudging both Jackson and Mark, eyes on the foyer ahead. “Then we contain the situation upstairs,” he grits his teeth. “Watch out for the guards, don’t do what’s more than necessary. Twenty minutes, then we’re out of here.”

Mark groans, Jackson battle-cries, and Jaebum rolls his eyes- all in the fraction of a second before they split, clearing the lobby.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no excuses for this
> 
> inspired (quite obv from the title XDD) by the brothel scene in saints' row III, and it was supposed to be a tiny modest 3k thing but then it became long and by default very hard
> 
> i mean difficult
> 
> ok yes anyway please enjoy this T_T comments are well and truly appreciated? ;A; please live well and be healthy my friends.


	2. 002.

“Lift lobby 2, door A, 30th floor.” 

The elevator door whooshes open, and Jinyoung swings- landing on the floor after a perfect arc. Damn, these skirts make for such increased flexibility. 

“Thanks Jae. Bam, how much longer?” 

“ _On my way. Met a couple of those fur-brains on my way up,”_ Bambam sounds breathless, like he’d been running. _“They_ _kinda_ _remind me of_ _Jaebum_ _on his bad days.”_  

“ _That’s not funny, and actually_ _kinda_ _gross,_ ” Youngjae interjects, and Bambam scoffs. 

“I’m almost at the labs,” Jinyoung doesn’t waste his breath nagging at either of them- he’ll have plenty of time to do it later, anyway. “Jae, I don’t see a special room, or anything- there’s just a regular door up ahead.” 

“ _It’s definitely at the end of this corrid_ _or, if the irregularity spotted in the blueprint’s anything to go by_ _,_ ” Youngjae says. “ _Maybe there’s a concealed entrance inside the room, or something?”_  

Jinyoung huffs as he reaches the end of the corridor, bracing himself in his stylish leather boots, hoping Youngjae meant what he said when he told him these weren’t just made for walking. 

The door goes down in one kick. 

“Whoa, you were right, Jae,” he walks into the hotel-style furnished room, turning back to admire the shoes. “Hey, after the mission, I get to keep these, right? I mean they’re my size and everything, anyway, and-…” 

“ _Baby_ ,” a man in nothing but a dress shirt and socks springs like a bat out of hell onto Jinyoung, clearly drunk and mistaking him for an actual hooker. “I was waiting-…” 

Jinyoung would’ve instinctively sucker-punched the guy and sent him straight back to sleep, if not for the short electric pulse that bursts from his outfit, sending the guy flying about two feet away, hitting a wall and tumbling down in a messy heap. 

He blinks. 

Jinyoung gingerly pokes his skirt. “Jae, did you just-…did you install some sort of electric defence system on my _sailor-_ _fuku_?” 

“ _I figured-…”_ Youngjae sounds a little defensive. _“I figured you wouldn’t be meeting very nice people here, okay?”_  

“Why don’t I get a remote-controlled electric field on _my_ clothes?” Bambam steps in, looking very grumpy with yellow goo squelching under his boots. 

 _“Guys,”_ Jaebum half-shouts. “ _Fifteen_ _minutes.”_  

Jinyoung gets back into it immediately. “Bam, sweep the place with me, look for a secret door, a control panel, something.” 

“Got it, hyung,” Bambam looks him up and down as he walks in. “Nice stockings.” 

“Head in the game,” Jinyoung snaps his fingers.  

“ _There’s a weird reading_ _coming from the far corner of the room, opposite the door,”_ Youngjae informs. “ _Is there a bookshelf there, or something_?” 

“Bookshelf? This isn’t a library, Jae, it’s a BDSM brothel,” Bambam scowls. “There’s a decorative iron maiden there.” 

“ _Ew_ _,_ ” Yugyeom offers. 

Jinyoung steps right up to it, fingers travelling along the grooves, frowning as he stands, testing the floor inside, and it sinks a little, like a pressure plate. He closes the doors, surprisingly well-oiled for a decorative piece. 

“There,” he says sharply, after a few moments. “You hear that?” 

“Hear what?” Bambam says uncomfortably- the next room has started making _noises_. 

“Some sort of mechanism was moving in there, it was pretty well insulated,” Jinyoung opens it again, looking inside. 

“Hyung, you’re not planning on going _in there_ , right?”  

“Sentry duty,” Jinyoung orders, and Bambam grumbles, standing near the maiden to watch the door as the other man steps in cautiously. “Follow only if I give the green light.” 

Bambam watches in that signature way he does when he’s anxious but telling everyone, including himself, that he’s not, as Jinyoung steps into the maiden, grabbing surprisingly conveniently placed handles to close it. 

The spikes adorning the inside of the iron maiden come closer, closer- then retract into the metal walls smoothly, small stubs in their place. Jinyoung reaches out to touch them, but can’t, because the floor’s turning, and he’s whirled around into a bright white light, coughing at the strange smell from the room. 

Immediately, he’s got his gun out, eyes sweeping the room for any sign of movement as he steps out of the tall cylinder-like cubicle, taking in the long, metal tables, microscopes and whirring centrifuges, x-ray films tacked up neatly onto the walls, accompanied by scribbled notes and photos, and feels a little sick, seeing some of the pictures.  

“Bam? You can come in now.” 

The cylinder whirs and clicks immediately, and in a moment Bambam’s stepping into the room as well. 

“Jae? Can you see this?” Jinyoung’s studying a series of petri dishes closely. 

“ _Permission to log into your body-cam,_ _Bambam_ _.”_  

“Permission given,” Bambam’s a little awed, looking around the room, rifle held slack in one hand. “This place is _weird_.” 

“Sweep for items with seals. Test tubes with organic evidence,” Jinyoung’s grabbed a briefcase, tossing a pair of rubber gloves to Bambam, before snapping on a pair of his own. “Keep it clean. We don’t want them to know we were here for as long as possible.” 

“ _Stop jostling,_ ” Youngjae grumbles over the radio, as Bambam strolls around the lab after that, riffling through folders of notes. “ _I feel like I’m on a roller coaster, Bam. Can you get a close up on some of the notes they’ve tacked up?_ ” 

“Aww, I’m so sorry for you,” Bambam tells the mini camera attached to his utility belt, before deliberately knocking it into a shelf. “Oops. Petri dishes are just over here.” 

“Bambam,” Jinyoung says warningly, grabbing some x-ray pieces off the light board and giving him a _look_ before he crosses into the next room.  

“Alright, alright,” Bambam grumbles, lifting the camera to let Youngjae get a look at one of the folders, tagged and left on the table. “What do you think?” 

“ _Huh,”_ it’s not a good _huh_. This _huh_ once got his favourite pair of hot pink Stefano Bemer loafers dirty. Also, Yugyeom nearly died. But priorities. “ _Is there something you can plug me into? Some sort of computer?”_  

“On it,” Bambam spins once, scrutinising the room, before pulling the extendable USB cable from his belt, walking over and plugging it into what he supposes might be the oversized CPU of the computer built into the ceiling and wall. “Is this it?” 

“ _It’ll do. Now this might be hard, but I’m going to need you not to move for a couple of minutes.”_  

“Har har,” Bambam grumbles, looking over at the various bell jars filled with amber liquid and round, squirmy things, in an experimental glass case a safe distance away, while Youngjae tries to hack in and download the data.  

They’re _alive_ things, he realises after a few moments, alive _slimy_ things with odd appendages that look like they could be legs or wings, and translucent skin that he can see their various hearts beating through.  

He blinks at it. One of the things blinks back at him. 

“Jinyoung-hyung,” Bambam says, in a perfectly non-trembling voice, because his knees are _not_ knocking together right now. “Can we get out of here soon?” 

The echoes of his voice peter out in the cramped room, and all of a sudden Bambam feels very alone. 

“Hyung?” Bambam turns around, voice just a slight bit imploring. “Can we please-…” 

The communications specialist pauses. Because there is a very giant, very quiet thing behind him, and a glob of the thing’s _secretions_ drips onto him in the most spectacularly horror clichéd way ever. 

He brings his arms up to brace himself just in time for what feels like a tentacle to whip out and slam him against the mainframe, and Bambam gasps out in pain at the impact, the air having been punched out of his body. 

“ _Holy shit,”_ Youngjae says over the radio, like it’s necessary, considering the situation. 

“Ow,” Bambam says, offended and a little terrified, gun out, firing a neat spread across the _thing’s_ gelatinous face (???), before arcing off the ground in an axle to sink his foot in its body, just like Jaebum had taught him to. 

He does not account for the way his foot sinks for a beat too long in the hybrid’s sticky, jelly-like body, and just keeps right on _sinking._ Above him, the hybrid makes smacking noises.   

“It’s _eating me_!” Bambam cries out, wriggling his foot. This is _not_ how he intends to go. If anything, he’s going to go walking from an explosion coolly in the background, and there’s going to be a great picture framed up on the wall, and he’s going to be a legacy.   

A tentacle shoots out, one grabbing his arm and forcing the gun out of it, and when Bambam tries to catch it with his other hand, it grabs that too, pushing him back against the supercomputer, jostling him such that his earpiece falls out. 

“Rude,” Bambam says, mouth running the way it does when he’s freaking out and can’t do anything about it, before another one of its many tentacles wrap around his throat. 

He’s trying to wiggle his hand down near his belt, to grab a couple of smoke pellets and hope the thing’s dumb enough to suck those in too, tears springing up in his eyes as the tentacle tightens threateningly hard around his neck, when the hybrid makes a particularly loud smacking sound, and _turns_ \- Bambam can’t really tell, since he can’t exactly make out where its eyes are anyway. 

Jinyoung’s eyes are blazing, breathing hard from behind the hybrid- he’s bleeding from an abrasion on his arm, and Bambam realises he must’ve been in a fight somewhere else too. 

He’s got something in his hands- some sort of modified blowtorch they keep around the lab. A flash of movement, and Jinyoung expertly avoids a tentacle, leaping in a spinning kick over a lab bench to get to where Bambam is, and firing the torch where Bambam’s connected to the hybrid. 

It shrieks, spitting Bambam out violently against the computer, and the younger boy’s grumbling out a _thanks, I guess_ , when a tentacle successfully wraps around Jinyoung’s midriff, curling dangerously tight. 

“Hyung!” Bambam’s fighting through the goo to get up, but Jinyoung shouts out a _“Jae, now!_ _”_ , just as the hybrid’s about to crush his lungs.  

The hybrid spasms from the electric current, letting out a mournful smacking sound when it stops, just before it crashes to the ground, oozing yellow goo. 

Jinyoung drops to the ground, landing perfectly despite the boots and the general goo covered floor, panting, as he lifts a hand to the mic in his collar. 

“Situation’s been contained- we’re getting out of here now.” 

He stands, outfit rumpled and boots covered in the ooze, hurrying over to lift Bambam up, fingers nimble as he checks his vitals, and the younger boy is wholeheartedly embarrassed. 

“Hyung, I’m fine,” he mumbles, sitting morosely in a puddle of the yellow stuff. “Sorry, I messed up.” 

“Don’t be sorry, learn from it,” Jinyoung’s stern as he checks his foot. “Can you stand?” 

“Yeah,” Bambam wobbles dangerously when he puts his foot to the ground. He takes a step, and almost falls, clinging onto Jinyoung for support. His foot feels completely numb- probably some chemical from the hybrid’s saliva for easy digestion of prey (he did not just think that). “Okay, no.” 

“Come on,” Jinyoung says, throwing Bambam’s arm over his shoulder, and handing him the briefcase. “Hold onto that,” he takes out a gun. “And put your earpiece back in.” 

Bambam obeys, and comes back to an explosion of Jaebum yelling at Yugyeom about how _I mean it this time,_ _Gyeom_ _, if you leave your post, I’m taking away all your chocolate shake privileges for a year, you hear me, a year_. 

“Thanks, hyung,” he mutters, limping along with Jinyoung towards the door, feeling very much like a useless piece of baggage as they hobble along. 

They’re stopped in their tracks just then, however, by a very prominent growl from the door adjacent to the way out, and Jinyoung groans. 

“If one of those things comes out of the door over there, I’m going to quit this job,” he mumbles, pulling Bambam forward regardless. 

To be fair, it isn’t even a hybrid that crawls in through the doorway, blocking them off.  

It’s three of them, all smacking and clicking hungrily as they fan out. 

Jinyoung curses under his breath, hefting Bambam along with him with a harsh whispered warning of _if you come back to help, I’ll feed you to them, understand?_ , gun out, like it’ll be of much help. 

Wait. 

“Hyung?” Bambam says, panicking slightly as Jinyoung takes his arm off his shoulder, wrapping it firmly around the briefcase. “Wait what are you-…” 

He doesn’t get to finish, because Jinyoung’s lurched forward, dragging Bambam bodily with him, ducking a jet of putrid smelling liquid, and Bambam’s shoved into the cylindrical exit with the briefcase. 

The last thing he sees is Jinyoung being slammed into the wall by a tentacle, before the iron maiden spits him out on the other side. 

* 

Jinyoung has been slammed into many walls before. He’s pretty much grown up being slammed with different things, like floors, glass bottles, unreasonable parental expectations. Not by tentacles, though- those make a difference, they do.  

A hybrid jettisons yellow goo at the spot where Bambam was barely a split second ago, and Jinyoung hears the mechanism in the concealed exit fizzle and die with a pathetic sputter- _damn it_ , there goes _that_ way out.  

There was another door in the other room behind, though- all he has to do is distract them long enough for him to get around to it. Yeah. He can do that. Easy breezy beautiful covergirl.  

Jinyoung’s on the counter in three seconds, tipping the glass case over onto one hybrid with a resounding _crash_ , and it flattens under the broken glass, smacking in pain. 

The hybrids seem to have learnt- none of them are trying to python-wrap him now. Instead, the other two send a barrage of goo projectiles, and one of the tentacles that follow after those get him directly in the middle. 

Jinyoung braces as he hits the counter on the other side- the sharp edge gets him in the abdomen, and the pain that sparks momentarily has him reeling, unable to move. 

He pushes himself away with a foot as the other two converge on him, inching away, broken glass digging into his skin, and for a moment he thanks the heavens for his modified stockings. They probably wouldn’t do much to stop a bullet, but they’re holding out pretty well against the glass. 

“Retrieval team,” he gasps for the second time into the mic, still backing away- there’s a buzz of noise coming from the earpiece, and he has a sinking feeling Jaebum and the others have their hands full downstairs. “Radioing for help. Jaebum-hyung-…” 

The door the hybrids had originally come in through opens again, and for a moment Jinyoung’s heart sinks, because he’s dead enough without more of those things joining the party. 

Then someone steps in, and Jinyoung’s eyes widen. 

“ _Jae_?” 

 Youngjae’s panting, clearly having raced over, sweat glistening on his forehead, holding something in each hand.  

“Jae, _no, look out_!" 

Youngjae throws the makeshift chemical explosive in his right hand before the goo projectile can get him, hitting home- it burns holes in the hybrids, causing a right ruckus, buying more than enough time for Jinyoung to scoot away and out of their range. 

The other thing seems to notice, prowling closer to Jinyoung, and he swears under his breath, his mind on Youngjae and how to get them both out of here safely. 

That's when the tech specialist slams the other thing in his hand- it’s a wrench, Jinyoung realises, against the metal sink, built into the counter. The resounding _clang_ sound seems to make them angry, because the smacking and clicking noises increase in volume and frequency, and they start converging on him, tentacles extending threateningly. 

The younger boy seems to read Jinyoung’s mind. “Hyung, _no, don’t move_ ,” Youngjae half shouts, gaze burning holes into the two approaching hybrids, his voice holding an authority it typically only has when they’re in his lab.  

“ _Choi_ _Youngjae_ _,_ that is a _wrench_. This isn’t Bioshock, Jae, you cannot come out of this alive with a _wrench_ ,” Jinyoung bellows, struggling up, regardless- the pain in his side is already receding, and he bites down the rest of it as he tries to get up, mind grasping at straws for some semblance of a plan.  

One of the hybrids shoots out a tentacle at the younger boy once it gets close enough, and Jinyoung’s ready to jump straight into the throng it need be, but Youngjae swings the wrench down into the sink- against the tap, this time, and water bursts from the pipes, drenching them. 

Jinyoung watches, stunned, as the hybrids start clicking frantically, scrambling over each other in the cramped space to get out. Youngjae, in turn, twists open the cupboard under the sink, disappearing in there for a moment, before he retreats quickly, and water starts spraying out from there too. 

The hybrids seem to be shrinking, _melting_ , for some reason, dissolving into globs of foamy mush, and Jinyoung has the sense to back away before any of it can touch him. Soon, they’re reduced to little mountains of yellowish jelly on the floor, tentacles flopping pathetically, and Youngjae crosses over the other side to get to Jinyoung.  

“Hyung, you okay?” his eyes are wide and worried, hand still clutching onto the wrench, and Jinyoung shoves him.  

“Don’t _ever_ do that again, I was so _scared_ ,” he says, furious. “What if the stunt with the water didn’t work? You would’ve been _dead_.” 

“I processed the data I managed to download while Bam was plugged in, I figured the consistency of their body substance would make them susceptible to solvent-based attacks,” Youngjae protests, helping him up. “Granted, I didn’t know what kind of solvent, but polar solvents-…” 

“Don’t change the subject," Jinyoung says sourly, bruised in both the metaphorical and literal aspects. Then something clicks. "How much did you manage to process? Anything that'll help the rest downstairs?" 

"They released some sort of pulse to block transmissions in the building- probably to make sure vids and pictures of tonight don't get out. Our comlinks weren't spared," Youngjae tugs on Jinyoung's arm, as one of the mush mountains starts to twitch. "Hyung, we'd better get out of here soon, I'm not exactly sure what happens after they dissolve and I'm not all that hot about finding out first-hand." 

"Right, okay," Jinyoung nods towards the door near the back. "I spotted what could be an exit over there, come on. And Jae," Youngjae looks over questioningly, still holding onto the wrench. Jinyoung rests a hand on his back, squeezing his shoulder. "Nice work." 

Youngjae puffs up a little in pride, eyes crinkling in a smile. "No problem, hyung." 

* 

Mark is not in the best of moods.  

He hasn't eaten a proper hot meal (hot meal comprising meat and rice and stir-fried kalian with lots of broth) since this morning. He currently smells like hybrid excretion. And he missed a rerun marathon of Keeping up with the Kardashians last night because they were brainstorming escape routes for this mission. All in all, it's been a pretty rough couple of days. 

"I want dumpling noodles," Jackson announces as he socks a hybrid with a potted plant at the corner of the 25th floor. Mark's stomach growls accordingly. 

"Shut up, Jackson," Jaebum says, possibly in a worse mood than Mark's in, because it seems their communications have been knocked out, and the last thing all of them heard was Jinyoung’s distress call from the laboratory level, plus the maknaes have been completely uncontactable, so yeah, he’s in a pretty bad mood, thanks for asking.  

They (or at least everyone except Jaebum) are well aware that the team's deputy leader is very much capable of taking care of himself. Jackson can testify to this (technically, it was his fault for thinking it was socially appropriate to squeeze Jinyoung's ass one of the first few times they met, but he still gets nightmares that Jinyoung actually did snap his head off with his thighs after that), but then again, Jackson wasn't a bunch of ugly hybrids. 

"Up," Jaebum says, ruthlessly clearing a hybrid from the stairwell. "Don't stop till we hit the top level." 

Mark's panting- climbing twenty-five floors is typically no issue for him, except they've been stopping to knock out increasingly persistent hybrids every few levels, and that would take a toll on even the best. 

"Jaebum, chill out for a second," he huffs, glances over with mild concern to where Jackson's engaged in a WWE style wrestling match with a bear-bird thing. "He's going to be fine, okay? He's gotten himself out of shittier situations." 

"Either way, we're behind schedule," Jaebum gestures stiffly for Jackson to finish up and join them, before taking to the stairs. "Without comms, the timing's the only thing Yugyeom has to rely on. Come on." 

Mark watches Jaebum race to the next level, entirely unamused, as Jackson joins him, shaking feathers out of his hair. 

"You wanna bet he's going to start freaking out once we get to the labs and Jinyoung's gone, probably because he already beat the hell out of whatever was attacking him?" Jackson quips, as he starts jogging up the stairs, and Mark mutters an impressive string of swear words under his breath. 

"I don't get it, I sure as hell wouldn't be _this_ strung up if I were him," he grumbles, following Jackson, who snorts. 

"Dude, I've known you since we were kids. I'm pretty sure you're capable of your own murderous rampage." 

Mark gives this notion some considerable thought.  

Then: "Nah. Too much effort." 

Jackson cackles, already on the next landing. "That's my Markie-pooh." 

* 

Jackson wins the bet. Sort of. Jaebum freaks out about a minute after they've left the lab, finding it in a mess and no trace of Jinyoung- but also because they discover the remains of a chemical bomb on the flooding floor that Jaebum somehow knows intuitively was made by Youngjae, and _it's_ _Youngjae_ _and_ _Jinyoung_ _and they were here and shit everything to hell, they're probably injured and helpless and being eaten somewhere._  

It's all very entertaining for Jackson. Mark, on the other hand, is hungry, and by default grumpy. 

They manage to persuade the leader to recoup at the rendezvous point on the roof because if Jackson knows Jinyoung, he's probably kicked every hybrid's ass back into the test tubes they came from, with or without Youngjae, and is currently waiting impatiently for them to catch up. 

Jackson pops his head out of the emergency ladder roof access they'd found, scanning the periphery. As predicted, Jinyoung's there, wrapping some sort of bandage around Youngjae's arm, and he scoffs. 

"All clear." 

He receives a tremendous shove in the butt, courtesy of Mark, and tumbles out onto the roof ungraciously. 

"Hey," he barks, trying to roll over into a sitting position. "If I were you, I'd be _appreciating the view_." 

"Ugh, no thanks," Mark clambers out, before toppling flat onto the roof, exhaling noisily in the cool air. " _Shit_ , that’s good. Now we just need food." 

Jaebum's the last to surface, and predictably, goes straight over to Jinyoung and Youngjae once he gets out to pelt them with a thousand questions, probably asking if they’re alive and who needs him to go beat up who. It's extremely demeaning for Jackson, who's risked his life for this mission just as much as they have, thank you very much. 

" _I_ don’t mind your existence," Mark says, eyes closed, like he's read Jackson's mind. 

"Thanks man," Jackson jackknifes into a sitting position, looking around, before frowning. "I need someone else to call me amazing and wonderful. Where's Bambam?" 

Jinyoung looks over, alarmed. "I thought he was with you guys?" 

"I thought he was with _you_ ," Mark says, starting to sit up. 

"You think-..." Youngjae looks over anxiously. "You think he made it up?" 

"Well he'd better have!" Jackson says loudly, going over to look down into the emergency access. "Who's going to clap for me when I do triple backflips in the training room if he doesn’t?" 

Mark's this close to rolling his eyes, when he hears a rumble from below, and stills immediately, straining to listen. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jackson squint. "What the hell is th-..." 

In a split second decision, Mark leaps forward, dragging Jackson out of the way a moment before some _thing_ blasts out from the access, splattering gelatinous yellow stuff everywhere. 

" _Holy shit_ ," Jackson is yelling, hands up to cover his face, and Mark looks up to see a giant tentacle _thing_ the size of a small house, secretions dribbling down its overgrown sides, bulbous white eyes staring down at each of them. If tall dark and handsome was one end of the spectrum, big, green and ugly would be the other, and this thing just broke the rating.

Jackson twists them both out of the way in time to miss a giant tentacle that slaps down on the roof, splashing yellow goo everywhere. 

"Gross," Jackson makes a face, as he stands, looking over to where Jinyoung, Jaebum and Youngjae are. 

Jinyoung's got his gun out, and clips the _thing_ neatly where its five eyes are, and the giant ugly ass hybrid howls, tentacles waving wildly.  

One of them catches Youngjae in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards, and Jackson exclaims, but not before Jaebum sends a zipline shooting out from his cable gun, getting the lamppost at the corner of the building and springing the younger boy back before he flies over the edge of the building. 

"Watch out!" 

Jackson ducks just in time to miss a tentacle- the hybrid's swinging them everywhere now, forcing the two of them back against a greenhouse in order to avoid them. Jackson glares, drawing his serrated-edge knife from behind him smoothly as Mark gets his out. 

“You thinking what I’m thinking?" 

Mark cracks his neck and shoulders. "Go in and I'll cover you." 

Jackson narrowly misses another tentacle, before diving in for the kill, slicing that one off. The smacking noises from the hybrid intensify, as well as a low humming from within it that’s freaking him out just a little. Jackson springboards off another tentacle, bringing his knife down on two of them, while Mark takes out the one he’d just bounced off of. 

"We're having sushi tonight, bitches!" Jackson yells, attacking another one. 

"Ugh, you need to work on your infight dialogue," Mark mutters from behind, stunning one tentacle long enough for Jackson to take it out. 

"Bro, that hurt," Jackson says, sincerely offended, reaching to cut another one off, only to shriek as one wraps around him from behind, lifting him up off the roof. 

"EWWW," he screams as he's slammed footfirst into the hybrid- and his foot _sinks in_ like quicksand. 

"THIS WAS THE THING THAT ALMOST ATE BAMBAM," Jackson bellows, struggling. "HELP ME." 

"I figured it out!" Youngjae’s shouting, having ducked a tentacle to get to them- if he crossed the Red Sea just to tell them that, Jackson swears, he's going to feed that kid to this thing. "The water- it dissolved them, but without a containment device, they all just merged into one entity!" 

"THAT'S NOT HELPFUL, JAE," Jackson wriggles a hand free- he grabs a smoke pellet from his belt, tossing those in. It explodes, causing a sizable dent in the _thing,_ but it's a net loss, because the thing starts smacking angrily, pushing him in harder. 

"There’s something else I got from the notes!" Youngjae shouts from below. 

“ANYTIME NOW,” Jackson's in up to his knees, now, and already losing all feeling in his legs. 

There’s a forceful, muffled explosion, then, that shakes Jackson violently, and he cranes his neck, offended, to see Jinyoung aim another grenade into the hybrid’s gelatinous folds. 

“ _Explosives_!” Youngjae cups two hands around his mouth and yells. “Hit it with explosives!” 

Mark starts socking it with grenades, and Jinyoung and Jaebum continue, the hybrid smacking and clicking furiously, trying to catch another one of them as it turns. 

The explosives work, sure, but one has to remember that this is a regenerative hybrid the size of several cars stacked on top of one another, and that the loss in body mass seems to make it just want to eat Jackson faster. 

"I LOVE YOU MOMMY," Jackson's got his eyes squeezed shut, yelling out. "I'M SORRY I LEFT YOU AND GEGE. I LOVE YOU MARK, STAY IDIOTIC EMOTIONALLY. I WOULD LOVE YOU JB IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH A PRICK-..." 

"I'm going to regret saving your ass," Jaebum snarls from opposite, sending a series of flares into the hybrid’s greenish folds.  

Jackson’s heavenward laments are interrupted (how rude) by a strange _whip_ _whip_ _whip_ noise, then, and he feels a strong gust of wind that is not coming from his life flashing too fast before his eyes. He looks up, panting, and hears Jinyoung shout from somewhere distantly below. 

That is _not_ a helicopter descending from the skies straight at where they are, and it is _not_ coming straight for Jackson’s head and by extension, his hair. 

It is. 

Jackson lets out a scream that is, admittedly, not very wild or sexy (give him a break, he’s being eaten by a monster and about to be julienned by helicopter blades), until one of the blades slices barely half a metre away from where he is, cutting cleanly through the tentacle holding him. 

The hybrid shrieks, and Jackson tumbles to the ground in a pile of goo and immobile legs, and immediately feels someone heave him up- it’s Jinyoung and Mark, pulling him away.  

The helicopter rears back, barely missing one of the hybrid’s tentacles, and gains altitude, towering over all of them. 

Then, in an unmistakeable voice, over a loudspeaker of some sort: “ _Will all idiot_ _hyun_ _gs_ _please take cover_ _.”_  

Jackson gapes as he’s dragged away. “Hey, is that-…” 

The hybrid smacks angrily, tentacles shooting out, but not before the helicopter plummets towards it. It draws the copter in with its tentacles, clicking angrily as it devours it, and there’s a lapse of inactivity, before something rings shrilly from the copter. 

Within a split second, there’s a blossom of fire, a roar of an explosion and a roll of heat where Jackson, Mark and Jinyoung are hidden at the side of the building under a ledge, and one last panicked squeal, before little charred bits of goo start flopping down onto the rooftop. 

It’s all very gross and relieving. 

Jackson emerges cautiously, dragging himself over the edge and onto the roof with his arms, and he feels Jinyoung follow behind him with Mark. 

“Everyone alright?” Jaebum’s shouting from behind the rooftop store, Youngjae curiously popping his head around the store to look at the magnificent blackened radius where the hybrid once was. “What the hell was that?” 

“If anyone needs a summary, I’m pretty sure a remotely triggered bomb-rigged stealth helicopter just crashed into the hybrid,” Jackson announces, still on the floor with his legs spread at odd angles in front of him. “Also there was a voice coming down from the heavens that sounded almost as nasal as Bambam on his good days.” 

He jumps, then, rudely interrupted yet again (this is becoming a very unfortunate pattern that needs to be looked into at once) as the roof access door bursts open, and guards start to flood out. Guns are very notably charged and pointed at the five people on the roof who pretty much just saved the world from cephalopod digestion. Assholes. 

“Freeze!” Someone yells. Jackson sees Mark roll his eyes. 

He would honestly rather not have to do this, though- legs aside, he’s run out of badass quips (sushi notwithstanding) and to have to repeat one in a single night would ruin his reputation as witty and intelligent (on top of being sexy as heck) forever. Not ideal. 

A distant blare distracts a couple of them, then, just the sound of someone leaning on the horn coming at them with a steady crescendo, but it’s the bright glare of white headlights that’s enough to have most of the heads turning. An engine roars into the vicinity, and somewhere in that mess, someone exclaims, sparking a mass retreat back down the roof access. 

The massive, gleaming black armoured truck, floodlights blinding, soars through the air to reach the roof, before smashing into and out of a rooftop greenhouse, mowing down whatever had remained after the hybrid attack.  

The huge off-road wheels lock into position, drifting across the concrete before screeching to a halt, bowling over the few unfortunate souls who hadn’t made it down and neatly slamming the roof access door shut. 

Five pairs of eyes are fixed on the van apprehensively, though Jackson pretty much knows (and is resigned to) what he’ll see inside. 

The side door to the back seat slides open, then, and the passenger side bullet-proof, blacked out window rolls down to reveal Bambam and Yugyeom, both donning sunglasses and the same unimpressed look.  

There’s a moment of silence for all their age-related bruised egos. Then-… 

“Get in, losers,” the maknae says, drumming his fingers once against the matte steering wheel. 

*  

(Jaebum’s threats about the _age line_ aside, they get to the final pick-up point at a deserted dock safely, thanks to the van. A bunch of scientists had been trying to make a getaway in the helicopter and van, Yugyeom explained, and he and Bambam had just very considerately relieved them of that burden. Also, they helped kill about a million's worth in budget by remotely piloting the empty helicopter into the hybrid. That's also a thing. 

Mark looks furtively into the back of the van, where a pile of unconscious, tied-up guys are rolling around, and shudders. 

By some means unspeakable on the roof, too, Jackson terrorises one of the bouncers that had made it up and claims the spoils of war, a giant purple dildo-shaped club capable of causing concussions, as his new ultimate weapon of choice. 

Jaebum has to physically wrestle it from him on the van ride, because _Jackson, I don’t even trust you with regular dildos._ Jackson’s puppy-eyed promises that he won’t stick it up anywhere inappropriate fall on deaf ears, too. 

Jinyoung changes like lightning out of the outfit, grumbling about how stockings are a bane to humanity, and Bambam later whispers something to Yugyeom involving the words _Jaebum_ and _boner_ once they’re on the evac helicopter.  

The only reason he doesn’t get thrown out of the chopper after that is because they’re all strapped in, and because Jinyoung attempts to gag him with a stocking, anyway.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy guess who finally finished this \o/
> 
> yes so do hope everyone enjoyed this!! ;A; chronologically, this is set before the events of all fall down and after the events of freefall. i tried to make it as fun and happy as possible to make up for all fall down so yes. if things got a bit stupid just now, please understand my heart.
> 
> major thanks once again to the bao of beis desole for proofreading and shouting at me, please rail at her to finish her shifter au too ^.^
> 
> comments are very much appreciated and treasured, as per normal! \o/ honest tho there is like a direct correlation to an author's strength to carry on living and writing, esp if things are not in their least sucky state irl T.T hope you guys have a great day \o/


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